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The Bitcoin and Ethereum prices are crashing again, with the crypto market failing to record a ‘Santa rally’ like other major assets. This comes as BTC and ETH continue to face significant selling pressure from the crypto ETFs, which are facing sustained outflows. 

Why The Bitcoin And Ethereum Prices Are Crashing

The Bitcoin and Ethereum prices are down again amid selling pressure from the BTC and ETH ETFs. According to Arkham data, BlackRock deposited 2,292 BTC ($200 million) and 9,976 ETH ($29 million) into Coinbase yesterday, likely to sell these coins. This marked the second time this week that the world’s largest asset manager had sent BTC and ETH to Coinbase in a bid to offload these coins. 

Further data from Arkham shows that BlackRock deposited 2,838.78 Bitcoin ($255 million) and 29,928 Ethereum ($91.29 million) into Coinbase on December 22. These sell-offs come as the crypto ETFs continue to record significant outflows. The BTC ETFs have seen a total net outflow of $330 million this week, while the ETH ETFs have a weekly net outflow of $11 million. 

This indicates that the institutional interest in Bitcoin and Ethereum is fading at the moment, which provides a bearish outlook for the largest crypto assets by market cap. A CoinShares report released earlier this week revealed that Bitcoin ETFs saw outflows of $460 million last week, while Ethereum ETPs saw outflows of $555 million. 

From a macro perspective, the Bitcoin and Ethereum prices have also continued to decline as the Fed looks unlikely to cut interest rates at the January FOMC meeting. The recent U.S. GDP and jobless claims reports have sparked a surge in the odds that the Fed will hold rates steady next month. 

The Bear Market Risk Is Becoming More Relevant

A CryptoQuant analysis revealed that the bear market risk is becoming more relevant based on the Bitcoin Combined Market Index (BCMI). The BCMI is said to be below equilibrium at the moment but well above historical bottom zones. This suggests that there is still more room for the BTC price to drop to the downside.  

The CryptoQuant analysis stated that from a data-driven perspective, this opens the possibility that Bitcoin is transitioning into a bear phase and not just experiencing a pullback. If history repeats itself, BTC is expected to form a more durable bottom if the BCMI revisits the 2019 to 2023 levels. The analysis added that this is a scenario worth considering, as at this stage, the market appears to be in a downward transition rather than a completed reset. 

Related Reading: Major Ethereum Metric Just Hit A New All-Time High – Can Price Reclaim $3,000?

At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price is trading at around $87,700, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

A new report from CoinGlass has shed light on the annual numbers related to the crypto derivatives market for the year 2025.

Crypto Averaged $400 To $500 Million Liquidations Every Day

CoinGlass has released a new annual crypto derivatives market report, carrying insights about how the sector changed in 2025. When it comes to the derivatives market, one thing that stood out in the year was the infamous liquidation squeeze that occurred back in October.

The massive liquidation event occurred on October 10th, as Bitcoin crashed just a few days after setting a new all-time high (ATH) above $126,000. The combined short and long derivatives flush hit the $19 billion mark alongside the volatility, which is the largest single-day liquidation squeeze in the sector’s history.

Below is a chart that shows all the liquidation events of 2025, putting into perspective just how big the October 10th round was.

In total, the nominal value of crypto liquidations exceeded the $150 billion mark in the year, implying an average of $400 to $500 million liquidations occurred every day.

Many of these liquidation events had limited impact on the market structure, however, as the report explained:

On the vast majority of trading days, the scale of long/short liquidations remained within the range of tens to hundreds of millions of dollars, primarily reflecting daily margin adjustments and the clearing of short-term positions in a high-leverage environment.

Naturally, among the events that did have effects beyond the short-term, the clearest example was the October 10th deleveraging. The actual scale of this event may have been even larger than $19 billion, as CoinGlass noted:

When factoring in the disclosure timing of certain platforms and feedback from market makers, the actual nominal liquidation scale likely approached $30–40 billion, representing a multiple of the second-highest event in the previous cycle.

Longs were the party affected the most by the derivatives squeeze, with approximately 85% to 90% of the positions involved in the event being bullish crypto bets.

The derivatives trading volume on the centralized exchanges also responded to the volatility, assuming a value significantly above the average.

From the above chart, it’s visible that the crypto derivatives volume surged to $748.3 billion alongside the October 10th deleveraging, nearly three times the average of $264.5 billion for the year.

Unlike the liquidation map, though, where October 10th stands out as the clear spike, there were other big spikes in the volume throughout 2025 that broke above the average (represented by the dashed orange line). “This reflects that during phases of market acceleration, derivatives have become the core battlefield for price discovery and leveraged speculation,” said the report.

In total, 2025 saw a whopping $85.70 trillion in crypto derivatives trading volume.

Bitcoin Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $88,200, up over 2% in the last week.

Evernorth’s decision to build one of the largest known XRP treasuries has become one of the most closely watched institutional crypto experiments of 2025. What began as a high-conviction accumulation strategy has since evolved into a stress test of timing, volatility management, and long-term positioning in a market that has repeatedly punished short-term optimism.

A High-Conviction XRP Treasury Meets Market Reality

Evernorth accumulated approximately 388.7 million XRP between late October and late December 2025, deploying capital aggressively as XRP traded in a strong uptrend. At its peak, the position was valued at roughly $947 million and briefly generated a gain of about $71 million. This early performance reinforced the thesis that institutional-scale XRP exposure could deliver meaningful upside if market momentum held.

However, that momentum did not persist. As XRP’s price slid from the $2.60 region toward the $1.80 range, Evernorth’s treasury position moved decisively below its aggregate cost basis. What was once a profitable allocation quickly turned into a substantial unrealized drawdown. By late December, the paper loss had expanded to roughly $220–225 million, according to on-chain and price-based estimates.

Importantly, this outcome was not driven by forced selling or liquidation. The losses remain unrealized, meaning Evernorth has not exited its position. Instead, the situation reflects a classic mark-to-market recalibration, where exposure size and price volatility intersect unfavorably. Moreover, a chart shared by market watcher JA_Maartun in relation to Evernorth’s treasury illustrates a clear progression, with early profit zones giving way to sustained loss territory as XRP’s price trend weakened over time.

What Evernorth’s Performance Signals For Institutional Strategy

Beyond the headline loss figure, Evernorth’s 2025 performance highlights several structural realities about institutional crypto exposure. First, concentration risk is non-trivial. A treasury strategy centered on a single volatile asset amplifies sensitivity to short- and medium-term price swings, regardless of long-term conviction. Even disciplined accumulation can be undermined by unfavorable macro and market timing.

Second, Evernorth’s experience underscores the disconnect that can exist between price action and broader institutional interest. While the altcoin’s spot price declined, XRP-linked exchange-traded products reportedly continued to attract steady inflows, pushing total ETF-held XRP value to around $1.25 billion. This divergence suggests that some institutional participants are expressing exposure through structured vehicles rather than direct balance-sheet holdings, potentially mitigating volatility risk.

In practical terms, Evernorth’s XRP treasury has so far delivered a sobering outcome in 2025: large-scale exposure, significant paper losses, and heightened scrutiny. Yet, the case reframes how success and failure are measured in crypto treasury strategies. The current unrealized loss does not automatically invalidate the strategy, but it does reset expectations. The ability to withstand prolonged drawdowns without triggering exits will determine whether this treasury move is remembered as a misstep or a long-duration bet that simply endured early turbulence.

The Ethereum (ETH) network is gearing up for a key year ahead, with significant upgrades in the pipeline that promise to enhance its functionality and efficiency. Among the most anticipated updates are the Glamsterdam and Hegota forks, which are integral to the developers’ roadmap for the Ethereum ecosystem.

Key Decisions Ahead For Ethereum’s Hegota Fork

Hegota aligns with Ethereum’s newly established upgrade schedule, which aims to facilitate smoother, incremental updates twice a year. 

Hegota is distinctive as it effectively merges two critical components of Ethereum’s architecture: the execution layer, known as “Bogota,” and the consensus layer called “Heze.” 

A pivotal decision for the Hegota update is selecting the key feature that will take center stage. Developers are expected to make this choice in early 2026, and front-runners such as Verkle Trees and state/history expiry are currently under consideration. 

While these terms may seem technical, they focus on a pressing issue: Ethereum’s data storage is becoming excessively large and resource-intensive.

The continuous influx of transactions, non-fungible token (NFT) mints, decentralized finance (DeFi) trades, and memecoins has contributed to Ethereum’s “state,” which is the live database maintained by nodes. 

During a recent call discussing the urgency for Hegota, the need for action became clear. As ETH approaches its target of 180 million gas by late 2026, the current Merkle Patricia tree structure will struggle to support the network’s demands. 

The Path Forward

The integration of Verkle Trees is not merely a desirable enhancement; it is essential for maintaining viable solo staking as Ethereum’s throughput is expected to triple.

The implementation of Verkle Trees and mechanisms for state/history expiry aim to compress or archive older data, preventing the city hall from collapsing under the weight of paperwork. 

Reports suggest that if developers can execute these changes effectively, Ethereum will become more streamlined and better suited for an influx of new users in DeFi, NFTs, and gaming applications.

Following Glamsterdam, which will address features such as proposer-builder separation (ePBS), access lists, and gas repricing, Hegota will further refine Ethereum’s data storage systems instead of starting the fee structure from scratch. 

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com 

Dragonfly general partner Rob Hadick struck an upbeat tone on crypto’s medium-term setup, arguing that recent volatility has obscured a broader trend of adoption, especially in stablecoins and prediction markets, that he expects to accelerate into 2026.

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Dec. 24, Hadick pushed back on the idea that crypto has entered a new “winter,” framing the year’s disappointment as a function of recency bias rather than a clean break in market structure.

“It hasn’t had a great year. But I think it’s important to zoom out,” Hadick said. “If you look at the returns for bitcoin relative to the day before the election in ’24, bitcoin is up about 26%, Nasdaq is up about 28%… even further than that two years, bitcoin’s doubled, Nasdaq is up 50%.”

Hadick emphasized he’s not trading chart patterns. “I’m not a technical investor. I’m a long-term investor. We’re a VC fund,” he said, adding that he “continue[s] to see a strong and constructive 2026.

2026 predictions are… another positive year for the industry (zoom out), especially for continued innovation in prediction markets, stablecoins and tokenized assets, and scalability and infrastructure for financial marketshttps://t.co/SIm1rCkiv9

— Rob Hadick ＞|＜ (@HadickM) December 24, 2025

2026 Crypto Predictions

Pressed on what “a good 2026” means in practice for the crypto market, Hadick tied his outlook to macro conditions and what he sees as compounding real-world usage. “For the token prices themselves—bitcoin, ethereum—there’s likely to be continued momentum,” he said. “I think from a macroeconomic perspective… we’ll have better monetary policy. And then we’re going to have more and more adoption of tokenized assets.”

One data point he said: “McKinsey just said that they think 3% of all cross-border payments is happening in stablecoins right now. That’s up from basically 0% a year ago,” Hadick said, adding that he expects “another tenfold increase.”

Hadick described Dragonfly as deliberately non-ideological across chains and sectors, positioning the firm less as a “bitcoin vs. ethereum” shop and more as a bet on market-structure innovation. “We invest in everybody that’s doing anything that’s interesting in tokenized digital assets,” he said. “We’re not what I would say ideological about crypto. What we are is investing in the future of innovation in financial markets.”

When the conversation turned from majors to categories, Hadick leaned into two themes: stablecoins and prediction markets. “Stablecoins I think are here to stay. I think it’s going to grow tenfold,” he said. “I think prediction markets are here to stay. I think they’re going to grow tenfold.”

On prediction markets specifically, Hadick argued the addressable market extends well beyond sports betting, despite the current overlap. He pointed to Polymarket’s growth as evidence of expanding use cases. “If you look at Polymarket volume today, they’ve gone from $50 million a month in early ’24… they’re now going to do probably about $4 billion of volume this month,” he said, adding that “only about 35% of that is sports,” putting Polymarket in contrast with Kalshi, which he characterized as “more of a sports platform because they’re infrastructure for Robinhood.”

Hadick also invoked Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeff Sprecher’s long-running tokenization thesis to argue prediction markets may converge with broader financial infrastructure rather than remain a niche wagering product. “If you talk to Jeff Sprecher over at ICE… he’ll tell you he believes in the tokenization of all markets,” Hadick said. “I talked to him before he made the investment in Polymarket… his perspective is that this is going to be as big as ICE itself. Probably.”

He suggested the functional framing is less “bets” and more programmable risk transfer. “I talked to an insurance company maybe a month ago that was thinking about how they can hedge out risk in weather related activities,” Hadick said. “That’s just one use case… every single thing and every single market and outcome that can be put [into] a market—or really just a binary option, which is what it is.”

Ethereum Vs. Solana

Asked to pick sides in the Ethereum–Solana debate, Hadick refused the “MySpace vs. Facebook” framing. “No, they’re both Facebook,” he said, arguing the market will require multiple settlement environments if tokenization becomes mainstream. In his view, Ethereum’s advantage is where value and stablecoin liquidity already sit, while Solana’s edge is high-throughput, low-cost flow.

“Most stablecoins today are on Ethereum,” Hadick said. “Ethereum is where a large amount of… economic activity exists… but if you look at the trading volume, it’s happening more on Solana, which is more optimized for that type of transaction flow and for low cost transactions.”

Still, Hadick conceded the platform layer is not frozen. He said Dragonfly is invested in a newer chain, Monad, describing it as “trying to be a Solana killer,” and cited figures he said reflected early-stage market positioning: a roughly $2 billion valuation and a token price around $0.002.

At press time, the total crypto market cap stood at $2.92 trillion.

隨著 2025 年末加密貨幣市場進入高度選擇性的強勢期，Solana 鏈上的 AI 迷因幣再次成為全場焦點。根據最新的市場監測顯示，由 AI 驅動的指標性代幣 PIPPIN 在過去 24 小時內錄得超過 35% 的驚人漲幅，市值一度逼近 5 億美元大關。這波漲勢並非單純的投機炒作，而是標誌著「AI 代理（AI Agents）」與區塊鏈技術深度融合的新趨勢。PIPPIN 作為由 BabyAGI 創辦人開發的自主 AI 實體，其成功背後隱含著市場對具備技術底蘊之另類資產的強烈渴望。

從純投機到技術溢價：AI 與 RWA 雙引擎帶動市場重估

在這一波行情中，2025 年末的市場贏家輪廓日益清晰。除了 PIPPIN 表現亮眼外，Solana 生態系中的多個項目也紛紛上揚，例如 snowball 在短時間內錄得超過 50% 的漲幅，顯示出投資者對於結合語言模型與社群互動之新型資產的追捧。同時，強調隱私與受監管金融應用的 Layer-1 區塊鏈 Canton，亦展現出穩定的機構級走勢。這反映出資金正從純粹的投機性資產，轉向更具公用價值與技術基建支撐的協議，市場參與者開始意識到，唯有具備實際解決問題能力的項目，才能在波動中保持生命力。

這種尋找「高性能基建」的資金流向，也讓敏銳的投資者開始將目光轉回加密世界的基石——比特幣。市場分析師觀察到，隨著比特幣 Layer2 技術的成熟，原本僅能作為價值儲存的 BTC，現在也能像 Solana 一樣承載高效的智能合約與 AI 應用。在這一波技術轉型浪潮中，資金正悄悄佈局具備高擴張性的比特幣生態項目，試圖在主流幣回檔時，尋找下一個具備技術溢價的投資標的。

革命性技術進場：Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) 如何重新定義比特幣 Layer2？

在眾多比特幣擴容方案中，Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) 展現了驚人的市場號召力。與傳統的 Layer2 不同，Bitcoin Hyper 引入了強大的 Solana 虛擬機 (SVM) 作為其執行引擎。這意味著它能將比特幣主網僅有 7 TPS 的處理能力，瞬間提升至數萬 TPS 的超高性能級別。透過這種技術整合，比特幣不再只是「數位黃金」，而是一個能夠支持複雜 DeFi 協議、去中心化 AI 代理與高頻交易的現代化網路。

此外，Bitcoin Hyper 採用了領先的 規範橋 (Canonical Bridge) 與 零知識證明 (ZK-Proofs) 技術。這確保了每一筆在 Layer2 進行的極速交易，最終都能安全地錨定在比特幣主網的不可篡改帳本上。對於開發者而言，Bitcoin Hyper 兼容 Rust 開發套件，讓原本在 Solana 上的優秀應用能無縫遷移至比特幣生態，這正是為何它能在短時間內吸引大量「聰明錢」湧入的核心原因。

預售金額突破 2,970 萬美元：全球散戶與巨鯨的集體狂歡

根據官方最新數據，Bitcoin Hyper 的預售活動已進入最後的衝刺階段，募資總額正式突破 2,970 萬美元。這一數字不僅代表了市場對其 L2 敘事的認可，更反映出投資者對「高性能比特幣」的強烈需求。目前的預售價格定在 $0.013475，這被視為項目正式掛牌前的最後低價入場視窗。

除了技術優勢，Bitcoin Hyper 的 經濟模型 也是一大亮點。目前平台已開放質押功能，年化收益率（APY）表現極具競爭力。數據顯示，已有超過 13 億枚 $HYPER 代幣被鎖定於質押池中，這顯示投資者普遍採取長期持有策略。

於錯過 Solana 早期暴漲紅利的玩家來說，佈局尚未正式上線、具備深厚技術護城河的 Bitcoin Hyper，無疑是優化 2026 年投資組合的最佳選擇。

如果您想在下一波比特幣生態爆發前搶占先機，可以了解更多深度解析：如何購買 Bitcoin Hyper 完整指南

Bitcoin Hyper 官方預售

結論：2026 年的贏家將屬於「技術驅動型」資產

綜觀 2025 年底的行情趨勢，從 PIPPIN 的瘋漲到實體資產代幣化的推進，訊息已非常明確：人工智慧與機構級應用已成為推動區塊鏈產業增長的核心。單純依賴情緒驅動的時代正在結束，未來屬於那些能像 Bitcoin Hyper 一樣，將頂級安全性與創新效能相結合的實力派項目。在變幻莫測的加密市場中，學會將資金配置於具備強大募資支撐與真實技術敘事的新興 L2 代幣，將是散戶在下一波浪潮中脫穎而出的關鍵策略。

As Bitcoin (BTC) continues to trade below the pivotal $90,000 mark with no signs of recovery, the prospect of a bear market is becoming increasingly relevant. Analyst Woominkyu from CryptoQuant has shared insights suggesting that the current market dynamics indicate a transition rather than just a temporary pullback.

Could Bitcoin Be Shifting Into A Bear Phase? 

In a report released recently, Woominkyu examined the Bitcoin Cycle Momentum Indicator (BCMI), noting that its return to the 0.5 zone on October 21 was interpreted as a cooling phase, rather than indicative of a market peak. 

In the weeks following this observation, Bitcoin’s price has seen a noticeable decline alongside a similar drop in BCMI, suggesting that the market is not only experiencing a cooling period but has also reset in terms of price and on-chain momentum.

Historically, significant cycle bottoms for Bitcoin in 2019 and 2023 occurred when BCMI levels fell between the 0.25 and 0.35 range. These levels are often associated with full sentiment compression and a structural reset within the market. 

Currently, while BCMI remains below equilibrium as seen in the chart above, and it is still above the historical bottom zones. This data suggests that Bitcoin may be shifting into a bear phase rather than recovering from a simple pullback. 

According to Woominkyu, a more stable bottom may only materialize if BCMI revisits levels seen during the previous cycles from 2019 to 2023.

Bear Market Conditions

In a separate analysis, CryptoQuant indicated that demand for Bitcoin has sharply declined, reinforcing the idea of a bear market. The report pointed to the significant drop in Bitcoin demand growth that has occurred since early October 2025.

Moreover, the report highlights that institutional and large-holder demand is contracting instead of expanding. US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have converted into net sellers during the fourth quarter of 2025, offloading approximately 24,000 BTC. 

Additionally, the number of addresses holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC, which typically represent ETFs and treasury firms, is also increasing at a rate below the trend, reflecting the demand deterioration that preceded the bear market of 2022.

The condition of the derivatives markets further corroborates the weakening appetite for risk. Funding rates in perpetual futures have dropped to their lowest levels since December 2023. 

Historically, such declines in funding rates indicate a reduced willingness to maintain long positions, a phenomenon commonly associated with bear market conditions rather than bullish trends.

Technical analysis also reveals the deterioration of Bitcoin’s price structure, with the cryptocurrency falling below its 365-day moving average—a crucial long-term support level that has historically delineated bull and bear markets. 

Looking ahead, historical data suggests that Bitcoin’s bear market bottoms typically align with its realized price, currently estimated around $56,000. This implies a potential drawdown of approximately 55% from the recent all-time high.

Intermediate support is anticipated around the $70,000 level, suggesting a relatively shallow bear market compared to previous cycles.

At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $87,635. This represents year-to-date losses of 10%, as well as a 30.5% gap compared to all-time highs of just above $126,000. 

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com 

Биткоин обладает несколькими преимуществами, отличающими его от золота. Одно из них — возможность мгновенно переместить актив в любую точку мира по интернету, заявил гендиректор криптобиржи Coinbase Брайан Армстронг (Brian Armstrong).

Блокчейны Эфириум и Solana будут процветать в гонке токенизации активов — но ни один из этих двух конкурентов не сможет вытеснить второго с рынка, заявил в эфире канала CNBC генеральный партнер специализирующейся на криптоактивах венчурной компании Dragonfly Роб Хадик (Rob Hadick).

Компания Tether заморозила около 3.3 млрд USDT на 7268 адресах с 2023 по 2025 год. За тот же период компания-конкурент Circle заблокировала 109 млн USDC на 372 адресах, сообщили специалисты платформы AMLBot.

Неизвестные хакеры получили несанкционированный доступ к аккаунтам пользователей блокчейн-платформы предсказаний Polymarket и похитили средства. Платформа пообещала выплатить пострадавшим компенсации.

Эксперты платформы Santiment заявили, что вокруг компании Strategy сформировался рекордный уровень страха, который нужно рассматривать как скрытый бычий сигнал для первой криптовалюты.

Крупнейшая в мире криптобиржа Binance стала первой централизованной площадкой, которая добавила в листинг национальный стейблкоин Кыргызстана KGST, привязанный к кыргызскому сому в соотношении 1:1.

Сбербанк рассматривает возможность предоставления кредитов под залог цифровых активов, сообщил зампред правления финучреждения Анатолий Попов.

В уходящем году в криптоиндустрии было заключено рекордное число сделок на общую сумму $8,6 млрд, сообщили опрошенные изданием Financial Times аналитики.

С адресов, связанных с сооснователем рухнувших криптобирж BTC-e и Wex Алексеем Ивановым-Билюченко, 1300 биткоинов были переведены на неизвестные площадки. Об этом сообщил аналитик Arkham Intelligence Эммет Галлик (Emmett Gallic).

Устойчивый отток капитала из криптовалютных биржевых фондов (ETF) вызван тем, что институциональные инвесторы покидают рынок, заявили эксперты ончейн-платформы Glassnode.

Mt. Gox-linked bitcoin tied to Aleksey Bilyuchenko is continuing to filter onto exchanges, extending a slow, closely watched stream of legacy supply that on-chain analysts have been flagging since the fall.

Mt. Gox Hacker Unloads More Bitcoin

Arkham analyst Emmett Gallic said entities related to Aleksey Bilyuchenko deposited another 1,300 BTC, about $114 million, into unknown exchanges over the past seven days. The wallets still hold roughly 4,100 BTC (around $360 million), and have sold a total of 2,300 BTC.

Gallic wrote via X on Dec. 23: “The entity related to Aleksey Bilyuchenko has deposited another 1.3K BTC ($114M) to the unknown exchanges in the past 7 days. They still hold 4.1K BTC ($360M). They have sold a total of 2.3K BTC.”

Bilyuchenko has been charged by the US Department of Justice in connection with the Mt. Gox hack.

The Dec. 23 deposits build on earlier posts in which Gallic described a methodical unwind rather than a one-off dump. On Nov. 9, he said bitcoins “once belonging to BTC-E cofounder Aleksey Bilyuchenko are slowly being sold off through unknown exchanges,” citing 110 BTC deposited over two days.

That Nov. 9 note also emphasized uncertainty around who is actually controlling the funds. “Unclear if he’s still jailed in Russia or in control of these funds, but Moscow courts have seized most of his other assets,” Gallic wrote.

The repeated use of “unknown exchanges” suggests the destination clusters are not cleanly attributable to major, labeled venues in the datasets Gallic is using. For market participants, that makes the flow harder to handicap: deposits can signal intent to sell, but the execution path is less transparent than transfers into well-known exchange wallets.

In an Oct. 17 post, Gallic went further, alleging that “almost 8K BTC … related to the WEX/BTCE case are controlled by Russian authorities,” including “the 6.5K BTC that moved earlier today.” He attributed that control to a specific unit—“3rd department of the 2nd service of the CSS of the FSB”—and linked to a Russian-language investigative article.

Who Is Bilyuchenko?

In Russia, Bilyuchenko has faced a separate WEX-related criminal case that has already produced a conviction. On March 18, 2024, the Moscow City Court upheld an earlier guilty verdict against Alexey Bilyuchenko, described in local reporting as a system administrator of the WEX exchange.

Bilyuchenko was accused of embezzling 3.1 billion rubles in WEX assets; the Meshchansky District Court sentenced him in September 2023 to 3.5 years in prison and a 500,000-ruble fine, and the appeal court left that decision in place, bringing the verdict into legal force.

In the United States, the posture is different: prosecutors have unsealed charges. The case is still ongoing. In June 2023, the Department of Justice announced the unsealing of charges against Bilyuchenko and Aleksandr Verner in the Southern District of New York, accusing them of conspiring to launder approximately 647,000 bitcoin tied to the 2011 Mt. Gox hack. The SDNY indictment charges both men with conspiracy to commit money laundering, carrying a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison.

Separately, Bilyuchenko is charged in the Northern District of California with conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating an unlicensed money services business, tied to allegations that he worked with Alexander Vinnik and others to operate BTC-e from 2011 until it was shut down in July 2017. DOJ listed a maximum potential penalty of 25 years on those NDCA charges.

At press time, BTC traded at $87,756.

Инвестор, ветеран криптоиндустрии и генеральный директор 10T Holdings Дэн Тапиеро (Dan Tapiero) считает, что говорить об окончании цикла роста биткоина преждевременно ― наоборот, рынок находится лишь в его середине.

Крупные майнинговые компании перепрофилируют свои дата-центры под задачи искусственного интеллекта (ИИ), ввиду снижения доходов от добычи первой криптовалюты,  заявили аналитики The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).